How Altered Gut Microbes Cause Obesity
New research from Yale University details how altered gut microbiota causes obesity. Obesity is linked to changes in our gut microbes — the trillions of tiny organisms that inhabit our intestines. But the mechanism has not been clear. In a new study published in Nature , a Yale-led team of researchers has identified how an altered gut microbiota causes obesity. In an earlier study, Dr. Gerald I. Shulman, the George R. Cowgill Professor ofbMedicine, observed that acetate, a short-chain fatty acid, stimulated the secretion of insulin in rodents. To learn more about acetate’s role, Shulman, who is also an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and a team of Yale researchers conducted a series of experiments in rodent models of obesity. The research team compared acetate to other short- chain fatty acids and found higher levels of acetate in animals that consumed a high-fat diet. They also observed that infusions of acetate stimulated insulin secretion by beta...